Half Blood High

Part 1 ~ Valdangelo

    Percy Jackson was the most popular boy in Half-Blood High. He was dating the smartest girl in his class, Annabeth Chase. And he was always with the popular kids: Thalia and Jason Grace, the kick-ass brother and sister duo, which also happened to be Percy’s cousins; and Piper McLean, the Cherokee princess, whose parents were movie stars, and just happened to be dating Jason.

            There were a few kids who were able to hang out with them from time to time: Connor and Travis Stoll, the twins; Lee Fletcher, star basketball player; Charles Beckendorf, mechanics expert; and Selina Beaureguard, prom queen. But none of them could hold a candle to the popular kids.

            Some wanted to be recognized, but things would always pop up into their way. Clarisse, daughter of a pro wrestler, was the school bully. Reyna was Clarisse’s cousin and class president. They would hang out from time to time, but nothing super fancy, just an occasional telling another kid to get out of their way.

            Then there were the misfits. They were usually paired up on the sidelines, picked last for kickball, and otherwise forgotten about. Frank was Clarisse’s brother, whom she thought was under par. They were both tall, strong, and athletic, taking after their father, but he was what she called a wimp for not getting out there and doing anything with all that muscle. Next came Leo, class clown. He loved playing with fire and was not allowed in the home ec room or the school kitchen as he almost blew them up before. Octavian was the psychopath who kept getting sent to detention or being suspended. He also wasn’t allowed sharp objects ans was always trying ot break in the office to see everyone’s files. Hazel, who had skipped a couple grades when she was younger, was dating Frank. She was also Percy, Thalia, and Jason’s cousin, and was able to hang out with them, but she never really wanted to. Nico was Hazel’s brother. He was very emo and liked to dress all in black. He didn’t know anyone and always kept to himself.

            One day, Nico got detention. It had been a boring day, and he didn’t feel the need for change.

            “Hey.”

            Nico looked over at the boy sitting next to him. “Oh, hi.”

            “Your Nico, right?”

            “Uh, yeah. Who wants to know?”

            “I’m Leo Valdez. I dated your sister for about a month last year until she dumped me for the wrestler’s son.”

            Nico looked at the boy. He was very protective of his little sister and this boy’s elfish face looked familiar. “Right, you’re the pyromaniac.”

            “Uh, yes, that’s me.”

            “Great. Nice to see you again.” But Nico didn’t mean it and Leo could hear it in his voice. “So, set something on fire again?”

            “No, I went to close to the home ec room. I asked Jason to bring me some food. He said to take a hike. I thought we were friends.”

    “I thought he was only friends with the popular kids.”

    “Yes, but he knows me, he knows everybody. So, what about you?”

    “I got caught trying to ditch class again. I don’t feel like I belong here.”

    “Don’t we all? It’s high school. Everyone wants to get out. In fact,” Leo came in close and Nico backed away. “What? I wanted to tell you a secret, something I don’t want Octavian hearing.”

    Octavian was in the corner and he was trying to listen to everyone’s conversations. He had an odd look in his eye that saidTell me your secrets or I shall hurt you!

    “Yeah, that’s a good plan.”

    Leo came in close and cupped his hands around Nico’s ear. “I know a way out of here. How about we ditch this place? Huh?”

    “Sounds good to me.”

    Leo stood up and looked at Mrs. Dodds, today’s detention teacher. “I need to barf.”

    Mrs. Dodds looked up from her book long enough to say. “Take the hall pass and a buddy and be back in five minutes.”

    Leo and Nico grabbed the hall pass and went out the door. Their backpacks were in their lockers, but it was a Friday, no homework anyway. The bathroom door was right next to the student parking lot entrance, so they just walked outside, leaving the hall pass right inside the building.

    “Oops, wrong door.” Leo was actually able to get Nico to smile at that one. Leo took his keys out of his pocket. “Now, here’s my ride.”

    They stopped in front of a Festus sportscar with flames down the sides and a license plate, which read “Fir4Lif”. Nico didn’t understand so Leo explained, “My parents build cars, they taught me how to build this one. I’m not that incompetent like everyone thinks. Hop in.”

    They took off out of the parking lot and went everywhere that night: the video arcade, the comic shop, and caught the midnight show at the movie theatre. Nearing dawn, they ended up in the park overlooking Half-Blood High. They sat next to each other, their backs against the pine tree where Thalia had sworn of any kind of loving relationship. That was when Nico kissed Leo.

    “I’m sorry. It wasn’t right for me to-”

    Leo kissed him back. It was something that both of them had wanted deep down but hadn’t been able to piece together.

    Their parents didn’t mind that they were out all night and that they came to Nico’s house early that morning and, curled up together, crashed on Nico’s bed. When they finally woke up, they decided to do it all again.

    Hazel was thrilled that Nico finally had a friend, but everyone was shocked to find out that they were gay and had started dating. Their parents and Hazel didn’t think any different of them, but the boys knew that they would never be accepted as part of the popular crowd,

    And they were just fine with that.